FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 12, 2006

Contact: Matt Derrick
(816) 942-8800, ext. 213

Mike Brown Elected President of Home Builders Association

The Home Builders Association of Greater Kansas City (HBA) inaugurated home builder Mike Brown as the organization’s 2007 president during ceremonies at the HBA Inaugural Gala Friday night Dec. 9 at the InterContinental Hotel on The Country Club Plaza.

Brown, who served as HBA vice president during the past year, is also president of home-building firm Brown Midwest LLC. He is a third-generation home builder whose family has been part of the local home-building industry since 1953. Brown has served on numerous committees and taskforces for the association, serving as chairman of the HBA Kansas Council and is a member of the Board of Directors for both the HBA and the National Association of Home Builders.

As HBA president, Brown said he would continue the association’s advocacy for more housing choices that will open up new homeownership opportunities for Kansas City’s families. While 2006 is on pace to rank among the strongest years on record for both new-home sales and starts, the housing industry is moving forward at a rate below the record-setting pace maintained during the last four years despite historically low mortgage rates and a strong local economy. Brown attributes much of the decline on planning and zoning practices that have severely limited new housing choices and exacerbated housing affordability problems for working families.

“The decision-making authority over what new housing is built and where development will take place is not resting with the market where it belongs,” Brown said. “Our communities and the home-building industry need to do a better job of ensuring that we are building the right housing choices in the right price ranges and that we make housing a priority for the entire region. I will call on our local leaders to make the hard choices and do the right thing to ensure that we continue our proud history of housing in Greater Kansas City for future generations.

“The current market conditions make right now an ideal to buy a new home but we need to ensure that we can continue to provide the right choices demanded by local consumers,” Brown said.

Joining Brown on the 2007 HBA Executive Committee are Vice President George Schluter, GWS Inc.; Secretary/Treasurer Brad True, True Builders Inc.; Immediate Past President Mark Hoffman, Hoffman Construction Inc.; Associate Representative Erik Blaney, Shamrock Cabinet; Past President Representative Tom Woods, T.E. Woods Construction; Associates Council Chair Tommy Angotti, Factory Direct Appliance; Sales & Marketing Council Chair Tammy Henderson, Hunt Midwest Real Estate Development Inc.; Kansas Council Chair Patrick Willis, Willis Construction Inc.; Missouri North Council Chair Bob Whitebread, Integrity Land Title Co. Inc.; Missouri South Council Chair Kevin Stucker, Stucker Construction Inc.; and HBA Executive Vice President Tim Underwood.

The Home Builders Association (HBA) of Greater Kansas City is the voice of the housing industry and the source for housing information. Comprising more than 1,000 member companies, the HBA represents an industry that contributes approximately $2.5 billion to the Kansas City economy, and supports more than 36,000 jobs in the Greater Kansas City metropolitan area.

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